1. (Technical Field)
This invention relates to a control apparatus for a vehicle provided with an electronically controllable vehicle-mounted accessory to be driven by an internal-combustion engine and energy storage means for storing energy generated by driving the vehicle-mounted accessory, which apparatus is capable of conducting regenerative control to convert kinetic energy of the vehicle into drive energy of the vehicle-mounted accessory during deceleration of the vehicle according to (or in response to) a driver's instruction.
2. (Related Art)
A known control apparatus, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-196457, performs regenerative control by driving vehicle-mounted accessories to convert kinetic energy of the vehicle into drive energy of the vehicle-mounted accessories during a fuel-cut period of time when the vehicle is decelerating. More specifically, a vehicle battery is charged with electrical energy generated by driving a generator, which is a vehicle-mounted accessory, during the regenerative control. This can reduce a subsequent frequency at which the generator is driven to charge the battery, thereby enhancing fuel efficiency of the internal-combustion engine.
In the conventional apparatus as described above, however, when a state of charge (SOC) of the battery is already at an adequately high level before the regenerative control, kinetic energy of the vehicle cannot be effectively used as electrical power output of the generator through the regenerative control, which may reduce the fuel efficiency of the internal-combustion engine.
In general, the generator and other vehicle-mounted accessories to be driven by the internal-combustion engine cannot effectively use kinetic energy of the vehicle as drive energy of the vehicle-mounted accessories through the regenerative control, which may reduce fuel efficiency of the internal-combustion engine.
In consideration of the foregoing, exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to providing a control apparatus for a vehicle capable of effectively using kinetic energy of the vehicle as drive energy of the vehicle-mounted accessories through the regenerative control, thereby enhancing the fuel efficiency of the internal-combustion engine.